Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory of Venezuela

Abstract

The Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL), attached to the Nuclear Technology Unit (UTN) of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), is the only laboratory in the country that is the custodian of the national radiation standard, for the quantities, Absorbed Dose in Water (DW) and Kerma in Air (K), with different qualities of radiation beams (Cs137, Co60, X-Rays and Neutrons), maintaining a traceability diagram with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the United States of America and the Seibersdorf Laboratory at Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The SSDL performs various services in terms of calibration and quality control, being the only one in the country with the capacity to calibrate portable detectors, dosimetric systems, irradiation of dosimeters for occupational and area radiological surveillance, radiation beam calibrations, controls of quality in the clinical area, specifically radiotherapy and radiodiagnosis services, among others; Additionally, the SSDL coordinates the Master’s Program in Medical Physics, through which the fourth level students are trained as Medical Physicists.